Acting on Impulse
by miata-chan
Summary: When Gray had mentioned to Natsu how close they were becoming, it struck him that this was the closest he's ever gotten with someone, including his missing father, and that scared him.


This was a very bad idea, Natsu thought as he stared at the door in front of him.

Although he had been here a lot, the door was alien to him. It was painted a plain white compared to the pink walls on the inside of the house. He outstretched his hand to knock, but something stopped him from completing the process.

Lately, he was feeling kind of awkward with the owner, and he didn't understand why. When Gray had mentioned to him how close they were becoming, it struck him that this was the closest he's ever gotten with someone. Including his missing father, he'd have to say, and that scared him. The thought of her leaving him just like his father did caused Natsu to avoid her unintentionally. He wanted to talk to her, hold her, go on adventures with her, but every time he tried walking up to her, something in his mind told him it was a bad idea and he would turn the opposite direction.

Still, looking at the door all day wasn't changing anything. Natsu decided he should either knock and go through with it or leave and deal with the consequences later. His raised fist clenched tighter as he struggled to come to a decision. Suddenly, the door was pulled open and he found himself looking into the rather confused face of the house's tenant.

"Natsu?"

The smile that lit up Lucy's face made his stomach clench and turn in an oddly as he threw his hand back to his side. "I'm surprised you didn't go through the window... Guess we should start cutting your hair. Come in."

Once she stood back for him to come inside, he noticed she already had a rather deadly looking pair of scissors in her hand that were definitely capable of drawing blood if he were to do something stupid. It set him even more on edge when she slammed the door shut behind him.

"Take off your jacket."

Natsu turned to stare at her in confusion. "W-why?"

She huffed, one hand on her hip, the other brandishing the scissors at his face in a way that made him feel mildly uncomfortable. "Natsu, I can't see all of your hair, let alone cut it! Just unzip it far enough for me to get a better look at the hair by your neck."

Deciding that provoking the blonde when she was wielding a weapon directly in front of him wasn't the best of plans, Natsu sighed and slipped out of his jacket. He felt exposed even though he'd worn less than this in front of her before without a problem. He began to sweat as he laid his jacket across one of the dining chairs and reluctantly followed Lucy into her kitchen.

It was cleaner since the last time he raged through her refrigerator for food. Of course, the messes were usually caused by him to begin with. She had cleared everything off the counter besides a large towel, spray bottle, and comb. A chair stood in the middle of the room, waiting to be rested on. To Natsu, it looked uncomfortably like an interrogation room.

He wasn't sure why he was frazzled. Maybe it had something to do with how Lucy jumped in unexpectedly when Gray had begun to tease him about the length of his hair being girly. Natsu was about to burn his hair to an appropriate length at that moment, when she had ran over and offered to cut his hair herself. He'd been taken back but had quickly agreed. It was weird and lonely being away from the blonde for so long, and he didn't want to let his emotions affect him this much.

Now he was cursing himself for agreeing without thinking things the whole way through. This was one of the only times he hated acting on impulse.

Getting impatient, Lucy grabbed his arm, pulling him insistently into the room. "Sit."

Natsu quickly obeyed, afraid that if he defied her, she would become violent. Now he felt more uncomfortable. When he was standing, he towered above Lucy's diminutive-but-curvy frame; however, now he was forced to look up at her, making him feel small.

She bent her body towards him, and with one finger, she hooked his scarf, tugging on it playfully. He blushed at how close her face was to his and how her tank top was hanging too low for comfort. "Natsu, this needs to come off, too."

"No."

Lucy frowned slightly, leaning away from him. "Unless you want a big line of uncut hair, you're going to have to."

She out-stretched her hand again, only for Natsu to grab hold of it, jerking it reflexively away from his face. Caught off-guard by the movement, Lucy fell forward. She managed to catch hold of his shoulder, however, with her free hand, preventing them from colliding. Her cheeks flushed as she stared wide-eyed at the fire mage.

"No," he growled.

This seemed to bring her back as her grip tightened on his shoulder and her eyes narrowed. "Why are you being such an uncooperative jerk? I'm just trying to help!"

Smelling salt in the air, he only looked at the ground, not sure how to reply. He didn't understand why now of all times he was defensive about his scarf, but he definitely didn't want to fight with the blonde. Nor did he want to make her cry.

He took a shaky breath as he rose his head before reminding her, "This is from Igneel…"

Lucy nodded sadly as she looked forlornly into his eyes. "I know… and I'm not trying to take it from you. You can have it back when we're done."

Natsu loosened his grip on the hand he held captive long enough for Lucy to pull her hand out of his grasp. She stood up, making him immediately miss her weight on his legs.

As she began unfolding the scarf from him, he could feel her cool breath hit against his cheeks and blonde strands of hair tickling his nose as she pulled the scarf out of its knot. Sliding his scarf off, she accidentally grazed the scarred skin underneath. Natsu swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing unreliably. Lucy noticed this, apologizing quietly, as she wrapped a towel around his shoulders, careful to avoid touching his scar again. He caught a glimpse of her blush before she turned her attention abruptly on her spray bottle and comb.

"Have you cut hair before?" He asked, something he should have questioned earlier.

"Not really. Cancer usually cuts mine for me…" She turned around with the comb occupying one of her hands, still flushed slightly.

Natsu gulped as Lucy reached up and slid her fingertips through his hair. His eyes squeezed shut, enjoying the sensation of her slightly calloused fingertips against his skin a little too much. When he opened his eyes again to distract himself with pictures and such, the woman's cleavage was the only thing to see. He closed his eyes quickly as heat rushed to his face, afraid the blonde would attack him for looking down her shirt.

Lucy grabbed the spray bottle and dampened his hair until his bangs covered his eyes. He felt drips of water drop onto his pants as she began to mutter about how much force she had to use to get through it with only her fingers. Natsu winced as she her fingers pulled on his locks.

"Jeez, Natsu. When was the last time you bathed?" He only shrugged before she moved behind him and dug the comb through his hair.

The first snip seemed unfeasibly loud in the silence of the room. Natsu's eyes remained shut, but it didn't block out his awareness of her. In fact, his other senses seemed to be going into overdrive to compensate for his lack of sight; he could feel the heat radiating from her body, smell the shampoo and soap she'd used to bathe with, hear every beat to her heart… he noticed then that his heart wasn't the only one racing. He wondered if she was nervous for all the same reasons he was.

Her hand moved over his hair, almost petting him as she decided what strand to tackle next. Natsu could feel her rubbing the strands between her fingers, playing with them. He figured this must be what Happy always felt when Lucy petted him. He began to calm down, the feeling causing him to feel dazed. He could fall asleep any moment now…

"You know," she said to break Natsu's train of thought as she took another slice at his hair. He noticed how her heartbeats quickened their pace. "We haven't gone on a mission together in a while."

A bead of sweat slid down Natsu's back as he nodded slowly, becoming uncomfortable again. He wasn't sure how to respond. She sounded a mixture of annoyed and embarrassed when she continued.

"Are you… avoiding me?"

His throat only allowed him to say a simple "no," but the crack in his voice caused Lucy to pause her movements behind him.

"Natsu, I can tell your lying…"

"I'm not."

"Why haven't you talked to me in weeks then? You don't even come to my house anymore, and today you used the fricken door which I've been trying to get you to use since I moved in!"

He sighed, leaning his body forward, away from her.

"…Being around you is becoming difficult."

"Why?"

Her voice split and Natsu was sure she was thinking of something ridiculous and contrasting to his reasons.

"It's too confusing to explain. I don't even understand it."

The silence settled again, the snip of the scissors composing him. Natsu felt at ease that she was behind him, so he didn't feel awkward when looking around, but, he noted how quiet she had become.

Lucy bent down to trim the hair on the nape of his neck, her breath stirring the loose strands. Natsu resisted the urge to squirm as the loose hair fell down his back, creating unreachable itches. When he reached back to scratch, she simply smacked his hand and told him to sit still.

Lucy ran her fingers lightly over the base of his neck, dislodging any clinging strands, making his stomach clench at the light, tickling touch. This was definitely some form of strange torture. His imagination was trying to insist the touches were lingering too, that she was touching his skin far more than was really necessary.

"This is all Gray's fault, that ice prick!"

Natsu watched from his peripheral vision as Lucy placed the scissors down onto the counter. He felt the weight of the towel that laid around his shoulders disappear as she placed the towel on the counter. "What's Gray's fault?"

He grabbed his hair and leaned against his elbows as he whined. "That I feel all weird when I'm around you. It's too frustrating to deal with!"

Because Lucy was so silent, he felt more of a need to explain now than ever.

"Gray mentioned we were getting close. I always knew we were close to begin with, but when I thought about you… how I care for you as much as I did for Igneel, I felt sick to my stomach. I don't want to be close to you if it means you'll leave me too…"

He looked down at his hands as he waited for Lucy's response. She seemed to hesitate for a moment but then leaned down to whisper in his ear again.

"Close your eyes."

He hesitated for a second, the shakiness in her voice catching him off guard, but he did what he was told.

As Natsu's eyes slipped shut, he could hear the rustling of her skirt as she moved in front of him. Lucy placed her cold hands against his fiery cheeks, cooling him off, but causing his heart to flutter nonetheless. The clean bubbly smell of her skin almost overwhelmed him and he wondered briefly if it was normal to find the smell of soap so stimulating. He felt her warm breath against his face a moment before her mouth finally slid against his.

Natsu grew stiff, not sure what to do as all his concentration was required to reduce the insistent tightening that was growing in his stomach. However, Lucy moved back from him as quickly as she came, hands retreating from his cheeks.

Natsu felt his lips tip the corners of his mouth as he opened his eyes to study Lucy's actions. She stood in front of him, farther than he liked, with her hands hooked to each other as if she was trying to put a barrier between them. Her eyes looked south shyly as she bit her lip.

He wondered if she noticed the way he tensed his muscles in preparation when she finally looked back at him. "I won't leave. If you ever want another hairc-"

Lucy was abruptly cut off; Natsu, now standing, had his arms wrapped behind her, pulling her frame against him as he brushed his lips against hers. Her lips parted in surprise, and he flicked his tongue against them to taste the faint taste of vanilla. Natsu's body burned and roused him to deepen the kiss. Lucy squeaked and became stiff as he claimed her mouth, and he had a horrible feeling in his gut that he'd taken things too far, done something she hadn't really wanted… Then she flung her arms around him and kissed him back so aggressively the chair nearly toppled over.

Perhaps, Natsu mused rather dazedly, acting on impulse wasn't as bad as everyone made it after-all.


End file.
